


The Tale of the Bear

by WillowPerpetua



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:59:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5774011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowPerpetua/pseuds/WillowPerpetua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fairytale based loosely on Snow White and Rose Red.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tale of the Bear

**Author's Note:**

> This is posted as part of the MCU flashmeme, 52 stories in 52 weeks. This week's prompt was "A retelling of a fairytale."

Once upon a time, two boys lived in a cottage in the forest. Their names were Steve and Bucky, and never was a love as great as theirs.

They believed their adventure to be over, their happily ever after to have begun, and they lived in harmony with the enchantments that pervaded their lives. For the forest and its creatures all had a trace of magic that lingered like a shimmering veil around them. Even Steve, himself, had once fallen deeply under an enchantment, and he still bore the trace of that magic. It made him handsome and strong, much more so than any other man in the kingdom.

Bucky was a clever, beautiful boy who loved nothing more than to go for long walks in the forest.

“Come home before nightfall.” Steve begged. “You never know what waits in the dark.”

With a smile and a kiss upon the cheek, Bucky said, “I promise, my dear, I shall be home before supper. I always return to you, do I not?” and he took his leave. Night fell and supper grew cold, but Bucky did not return.

Days and days passed. Steve fell into mournful complacency, understanding that Bucky would never return to him, for many strange things happened in their forest.

Then, one winter night as the snow drifted down upon deep banks all around the cottage, a knock echoed through the room where Steve sat, watching the fire. His heart leapt in his chest and he, likewise, leapt to answer the knock. When he opened the door, he found not a man but instead, a bear.

“Please do not be afraid.” The bear said. “I have come to ask for shelter. It is bitterly cold and I am frozen nearly to death. Please let me sleep by your fire and stay warm.”

Steve knew of the treachery of wolves, but of the temperament of bears, he had never heard. He examined the bear’s face. There was something kind about his eyes. He nodded and stepped aside, granting the bear entrance to his small home. The bear was very grateful, and slept soundly next to the fire. In the morning, he left, but that night, he returned again.

Night after night, the bear came back and night after night, Steve allowed him to sleep by the fire. They grew accustomed to one another, and Steve found that the bear’s presence filled a vacancy in the home. He was not only welcome, he was needed.

“How does a bear keep his fur so soft?” Steve asked, one evening after supper while they dozed by the fire and Steve stroked the bear’s fur absentmindedly.

“I make no effort to keep my fur soft, but if it pleases you, I will buy a comb and the finest oils for my coat.”

“I like it just as it is.” Steve said. So, the bear left it just as it was.

As the months passed, the two continued their friendship. Steve found that he anticipated the bear’s arrival at his door with pleasure and felt sorrow every morning when the bear vanished. His warmth and his kind eyes were a comfort unlike any Steve knew.

When the summer arrived, the bear greeted Steve with unwelcome news.

“I must go away,” said he.

“Why?” Steve asked, feeling terribly sad at the thought of losing his best and only friend.

“I must find a goblin, and if I am successful, you will know why.”

 

A week later, Steve was at the well when he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned to see a man, handsome and stately, though not his Bucky, approaching.

“Who are you?” Steve asked, his manners quite abandoning him.

“My name is of little consequence. I have traveled far through the woods this day and am thirsty. Give me a drink of your water.” The man demanded. Steve complied, for he was generous and kind. The man did not thank him. The water had hardly touched his lips when he spat it back out upon the ground. “Do you mean to poison me?” He cried.

“No, sir. Whatever can you mean?” asked Steve, alarmed. He looked into the well to see if there was something in it to flavor the water, but he could see nothing.

“This is foul, bad water. It has been still for too long and the ground from whence it springs is unfitting for such a purpose.” The man cast an evil look upon the well.

“I assure you, this has been the family well for as long as memory. It supplies all our drinking water.” Steve said.

“Never mind,” said the man. “I shall ride on.” And so he did. Steve could not pretend to be glad to see the back of him.

Later in the day, Steve ventured into town, where he saw none other than the man from the well. He stumbled from the tavern, pursued by an angry man whose countenance Steve knew to be a flammable, bitter sort. The stranger from the well was outnumbered and outmatched in the fight that had brewed for whatever reason, and Steve could not help but intervene. With his strength, he made the fight equal.

In the brawl, the fine gentleman’s coat was torn, and when all stumbled away, he looked at Steve with disgust.

“You could have taken more care, you tasteless man!” He shouted. “This coat was a gift from the duke, himself. Now it is ruined.” He stormed away up the high street.

Steve went about his shopping without demanding thanks for saving the gentleman.

A few days later, Steve encountered the gentleman once again. While on a walk through the forest, he heard a cry for help. He ran to the source of the disturbance and found the man entangled in a trap, facing none other than the bear who Steve had come to love over that long winter. The man called and called for help while the bear stared on, unimpressed. At last, the gentleman caught sight of Steve.

“What are you standing there for, you wretch?” He asked. “Help me! Do you not see that this beast means to eat me alive?”

“Do not be so hasty,” said Steve. “This bear means you no harm. He is a gentle creature, one whom I have quite missed.”

But the bear shook his head and watched Steve with mournful eyes.

“No, my dear.” Said the bear. “I wished you not to see this. I am not so gentle as you imagined, for this is the goblin I set out to seek.”

“A goblin?” Steve said, quite alarmed, and looked again at the fine gentleman. At once, the man pulled his face off to reveal a skeletal, red creature beneath it, shrunken and evil.

“Yes.” Said the goblin. “That is what I am.”

“Then, dear bear, what quarrel do you have with it?” Steve asked.

“This is the creature that made me.” Said the bear, and with one swipe of his large paw, he knocked the goblin dead.

In the same instant, a blinding light filled the forest. When it receded, the bear was gone, and in his place stood Bucky. Steve rushed forward, taking him in his arms.

“My darling!” Bucky said, his voice raspy with disuse. “Come, I must show you our treasure.”

And treasure there was, for as a bear, Bucky had traveled forest after forest searching for the goblin who cursed him, and he amassed a treasure finer and greater than that of any king. Steve stood at the mouth of Bucky’s cave with wide eyes as he stared at their wealth, but it was nothing to the man beside him.

“If you had come home to me a penniless beggar, it would not matter. All that I desired was your return.” Said Steve, embracing Bucky with a tender kiss.

They lived the rest of their days as rich as kings and happier than any who lived before or after.

The End.


End file.
